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Gov. Scott’s budget and PB County schools

Here’s a quick reading from Vern Pickup-Crawford, an education lobbyist, on what Gov. Scott’s proposed budget could mean for Palm Beach County schools. Keep in mind that I talked to Mr. Pickup-Crawford even as he was seeing Gov. Scott’s budget plan for the first time. This is a first-blush analysis.

The district’s budget this year is about $1.248 billion.

Gov. Scott’s budget for Palm Beach County schools for next year is $1.117 billion.

So that’s an initial cut of roughly $131 million.

However, the governor’s budget does mitigate the cut somewhat. Here’s how:

Right now, the district pays the total bill for employee pensions. That includes teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, etc. But Gov. Scott proposes that those employees start contributing 5 percent of their pay toward retirement. For next year, that’s about $37 million. Gov. Scott’s budget says the district can keep the money it won’t have to contribute to those retirement accounts and use it for general education instead.

So the final “hit” for the district is $131 million minus the $37 million it doesn’t have to contribute toward employee retirement, which brings the bottom line to a $94 million cut for Palm Beach County schools.

Of course, it also has the effect of cutting school employees’ pay by 5 percent.

It’s way too early to say whether the Legislature will do any part of what Gov. Scott proposes.